Blue Money | Nick Robinson

Chapter Ten: Shattered

"When was the last time you slept?" Anna reaches to touch Savannah's forehead with the the back of her palm and she swats her hand away. A hurt look flashes across her face. "Savannah, if something was wrong you would tell me, right? Or Nick?"

"Like you guys care," She laces it with ice and Anna looks like Savannah had slapped her cold.

Mr. Kinkel starts talking and Anna snaps her head to the front of the class, back straight but heart crumbling.

Savannah feels like she's falling and not the good kind, her stomach turns and the vision around her eyes feels dark. A plop sounds makes her blink. She looks down and sees a single drop of blood seep into the pages of her notebook. She reaches up and touches the bottom of her nose, feeling blood drip down.

She doesn't say anything, her seat screeches as she stands up, covering her nose and ignoring Mr. Kinkel calling out her name as she rushes to the bathroom.

Her sneakers squeak as she enters the tiled floored bathroom and she grabs a paper towel, wiping the blood from her face. She pauses at the mirror. The world tilts.

"Savannah?"

Anna enters the bathroom, looking worried and Savannah quickly wipes the remaining blood from underneath her nose and tosses the paper towel into the trash.

"I'm fine," She tries to shove past Anna but she pushes her back. Sav clenches her jaw, anger pulling at her. "Let me go." Anna's grip tightens on her arms.

"No, not until you tell me what's going on," She's looking right into Savannah's eyes and she can't handle it so Sav pushes her back, wrenching free. They both stumble.

"What the fuck is wrong, Savannah? You have to talk to me or talk to Nick at least, we're worried," Anna's voice breaks on the word Nick and Savannah shamefully looks down, guilt running it's course throughout her. "Talk to me."

"Just leave me alone, Anna!" Savannah shouts, putting her hands on her head as if she crush the memories out if she squeezes hard enough.

"No," Anna says, gently and Savannah's heart breaks. She looks up at the other girl; an angel in the form of a petite girl with a smile that brings up the sun everyday.

The anger at Layla shoves at Savannah and she wants to scream, she wants to tell the angel everything and how much she feels guilty and that Layla is her puppet master and she is merely a puppet. It's shouting inside of her head and before she can stop the movements she makes a fist and slams it into the mirror. The shatter feels like her heart and the pain in her knuckles buries the guilt and the anger for just a startling moment and then it's there again, bright as the blood pouring from her knuckles.

"Savannah!" Anna rushes forward and turns on the sink water, shoving savannah's hands under the facet and she matches the water because suddenly her eyes are pooling with liquid and she's crying not just because of the pain in her hand but the pain in her chest too.

"It's Layla," Savannah sobs and Anna turns the water off, reaching for a paper towel. She stares at the other girl with patience and dabs at the blood, taking her time with it and showing Savannah to take her time with what she has to say.

"Layla knows something, something bad about me," Savannah tries to breathe but it gets caught in her throat. She keeps talking anyway watching Anna hold her wrist as she pauses over the bloody knuckles with her nimble fingers. "Blake had a sister named Emma and she was my best friend and she died," Every word gets harder and harder to get out as Savannah's tears start dripping down her cheeks. She ignores them. "It's my fault and Layla knows it. I-I-I'm the one that killed her. I didn't m-mean too but Layla's going to tell everyone that I did it and I-I can't stop it from happening."